If I were in a good marriage I would be open to life however as a single woman I never really desired to be a mother.

Before I had children, I really didn’t care at all about being a mother… never so much as entertained the idea. But I believe my maternal instincts kicked in with pregnancy (hormones?), then went to a new high with birthing. Now with two daughters and ten grandchildren, I couldn’t begin to imagine not being a mother all these years (and grandmother), I thank God every day for this blessing of motherhood. It’s just that my point was the fact that, like you, I never really desired to be a mom – until it happened.

Have you seen how mother hens and ducks and mother cats take care of their young?

I’ve had dogs and cats all my looooonng, life, and they absolutely instinctively teach their young how to hunt, to eat from a bowl, to clean themselves, use a litter box, and how to behave. They discipline their young when they misbehave. I’ve seen my mother cats SLAP their babies when they tire of their nonsense, and the babies immediately lay down. That all has to come from natural instinct.

I have rabbits who are very good at raising their own kits— but have absolutely no interest in raising the orphaned kits of another mama rabbit, even if you do everything “right” to get them to accept them. There are other mama rabbits who will play the foster-mother role with no problem, and will accept anything you put into their nest. And there are mama rabbits who won’t pull fur, won’t build a nest, will have their kits on the wire, and will just ignore them, even though they’re quite old enough to be mentally as well as physically there.

So there’s a lot of variety, even within the animal kingdom, and even within a single species.

Have you seen how mother hens and ducks and mother cats take care of their young?

and not just their own, but strays, and sometimes even those of other species.

There was a recent news article about a dog that accepted a handful of rescued ducklings, while dog/kitten and cat/pup are both quite common. (and they sometimes try to act like their adopters . . . I get a kick out of the cat that tries to wag it’s tail like a dog, and the puppy that growled inappropriately–he was trying to purr!).

glorybe:

I’ve seen my mother cats SLAP their babies when they tire of their nonsense, and the babies immediately lay down. That all has to come from natural instinct.

It’'s generally more a paw straight down on top of the head—which is also useful from a person to an adult cat (not hard! just firmly!)

midori:

nd there are mama rabbits who won’t pull fur, won’t build a nest, will have their kits on the wire, and will just ignore them, even though they’re quite old enough to be mentally as well as physically there.

This is largely self-correcting–they are unlikely to have grand-kits . . .

some women will don’t care of some children born in bad circunstances, but will be very affectionated with others born when they want.
They believe that maternal instinct is a social construction to normalized motherhood and reassure the society.

On maternity, I will said that it is the destinity of almost all women, so it is not a vocation. But some women are not made to be mothers (because of the circustances or a temperament). So it may be seen as a God’s gift.